The common law action for breach of promise of marriage originated in the mid-seventeenth century, but it was not until the nineteenth century that it rose to prominence and became a regular feature in law courts and gossip columns. By 1940 the action was defunct, it was inconceivable for a respectable woman to bring such a case before the courts. What accounts for this dramatic rise and fall? This book ties the story of the action's prominence and decline between 1800 and 1940 to changes in the prevalent conception of woman, her ideal role in society, sexual relations, and the family. It argues that the idiosyncratic breach-of-promise suit and Victorian notions of ideal femininity were inextricably, and fatally, entwined. It presents the nineteenth-century breach-of-promise action as a codification of the Victorian ideal of true womanhood and explores the longer-term implications of this infusion of mythologized femininity for the law, in particular for the position of plaintiffs. Surveying three consecutive time periods - the early nineteenth century, the high Victorian and the post-Victorian periods - and adopting an interdisciplinary approach that combines the perspectives of legal history, social history, and literary analysis, it argues that the feminizing process, by shaping a cause of action in accordance with an ideal at odds with the very notion of women going to law, imported a fatal structural inconsistency that at first remained obscured, but ultimately vulgarized and undid the cause of action. Alongside more than two hundred and fifty real-life breach-of-promise cases, the book examines literary and cinematic renditions of the breach-of-promise theme, by artists ranging from Charles Dickens to P.G. Wodehouse, to expose the subtle yet unmistakable ways in which what happened (and what changed) in the breach-of-promise courtroom influenced the changing representation of the breach-of-promise plaintiff in nineteenth- and early twentieth-century literature and film.

Onstage, the singing duo of Gabe and Mitzi Steiner captured America's heart for more than two decades. Offstage, their own hearts have throbbed as one for sixty years. Only now, Gabe has retreated into the tangles of Alzheimer's, leaving Mitzi to ponder her future alone. On the other side of Tulsa, everyone believes Brooke Woodson has found the perfect man -- a handsome lawyer with sights on becoming Tulsa's next District Attorney. If only Brooke felt more sure. If only her fiancé could control his anger. If only love didn't come with so many scars. When an accident lands Brooke in the hospital where Mitzi volunteers, the two women quickly develop an unlikely friendship birthed by providence and bathed in grace. And with Mitzi's help, kindness, and insight, Brooke learns how to pick up the broken pieces of her life.

Made To Be Broken begins with a tortuous scream from the shadows of his past. PI Ross Malone is plunged headfirst into the depths of obsession where a twisted smile could mean a strangled neck for a lost teenager searching for a sense of belonging. Ross needs to find her before that place the teen is looking for comes with a headstone. The case distracts him from his relationship problems with Dr. Susan Abilene. Scenic upstate New York provides the battleground where Ross searches for the girl and dodges the vengeance of The Master Brotherhood where depravity is a requirement of membership. Years later, Ross is shoved into the middle of a family crisis from his significant only. Once again, terror stalks that teenager of years ago. A family friend seeks out the detective and spins a tale of a mysterious disappearance that could very well be just a vacation from reality. Then again, if Ross Malone doesn't get there in time it could mean the final walk towards a future of horrific evil.

COURTSHIP, CLASS AND GENDER IN VICTORIAN ENGLAND.

Love Is Only Business for 4 Wedding Planners Discover how keeping secrets from each other threatens four women’s friendships, wedding business, and own ability to find love in Loveland, Colorado. Business partners Felicity Anderson, the cake baker; Kiki Bell, the seamstress; Cassie Blackthorn, the coordinator; and Chef Saffron Fare are best of friends in a town that is a romantic wedding destination for many couples—who work together at Weddings by Design to make every bride’s special day perfect. Could each falling into their own romance be the key to working out their differences and learning to trust each other—and God—with their futures?

The Brooding Bachelor Three marriage proposals and not one walk down the aisle had Hannah Farley swearing off men forever. Until the sexiest stranger Clover, South Carolina, had ever seen turned up. With his black eyes, black T-shirt, black worn jeans and a temper to match, Matthew Granger was an irresistible challenge! But all the man did was stomp around town and ask strange questions. He wanted something—and obviously it wasn't a blushing bride. Of course, Hannah knew there were ways to tempt the truth out of the most secretive of men….